The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has announced its involvement in two new European agriculture and food research calls.

The department will participate as a funder in two new research calls by the 'Agroecology' and 'FutureFoodS' European Partnerships.

Minister of State at the DAFM Noel Grealish said that collaboration with European partners is "critical in developing expertise and pooling resources in the areas of circular, resilient and sustainable agriculture and food systems".

"Our financial support will enable Irish researcher involvement in these two calls, which will help develop practical and policy-relevant knowledge on the genetic diversity and variability of plants and animals, and improving the resilience of circular food processing systems," Minister Grealish said.

Research

Funding from the department under the Agroecology call will focus on proposals exploring plant and animal genetic diversity and variability that will support the transition to sustainable farming systems.

This will include, for example, research to develop crop varieties and animal breeds adapted to specific environmental conditions, breeding for resilience to climate, pest and disease stress, and breeding for improved feed efficiency or reduced greenhouse gas emissions. 

Funding under the ‘FutureFoodS’ call will provide support to research proposals that focus on developing circular, resilient and sustainable food systems.

This will include, for example, research to up-cycle food processing side streams, designing innovative food preservation methods, and investigating the potential for new fermentation technologies in food processing.

Detailed information on the call scope, application guidelines, eligibility criteria and available funding are provided through the websites of the DAFM, the Agroecology Partnership and the FutureFoodS Partnership.

European Partnerships bring the European Commission and private and/or public partners together to address some of Europe’s most pressing challenges through concerted research and innovation initiatives.